So here we are, at the 4thTransformers movie, a movie some people believed should never have been made (well, at least until all those who are made with the previous trilogy are retired). ButMichael Bay has done it again, we have a new one! We go through everything again with some of the same Robots, some old ones in new packaging and a whole batch of humans…

The question is, is it better?
Or even Different???

So we start the movie on Earth around the Cretaceous Age, the earth is green and all the dinosaurs are going about their business when BOOM! They are attacked my monstrous space ships that kill them for some nefarious reason. Yupp, we owe the poor asteroids an apology!

Fast forwarding to our time, 5 years have passed since Chicago was demolished in the epic battle between Autobots and Decepticons, and times have changed, CIA has decided( without the president knowing) that Earth won’t be safe until we remove all the aliens from the Earth and now running a hunt similar to one we saw in X men DOFP to eliminate ALL THE TRANSFORMERS. You might think they might have learnt their lesson from last movie but NOOO…

Unfortunately, their mission is going too well. How, you might ask? As the 11th Doctor once said, “ALIEN TECHNOLOGY PLUS HUMAN STUPIDITY – TRUST ME, IT’S UNBEATABLE!” Humans have made a deal with Lockdown( voiced by Mark Ryan) to give him Optimus Prime( voiced by Peter Cullen again) and in return , get help in capturing and killing all transformers and ONE SEED. (more on that later). We witness them killing an Autobot, Ratchet( Robert Foxworth) without any mercy( the only heart touching scene of the movie).

Then we move on to small time but genius engineer Cade Yeager (Mark Wahlberg – Boggie nights , Three kings, the perfect storm, Planet of the Apes, The Italian job, The Departed { gotta make a note when a real actor comes in as lead human :D} ) who lives with his teen age daughter Tessa ( Nicola Peltz { I know that is the one u might want to know the name of }). He finds a rusty old semi-truck, brings it home, repairs it, and surprise! Not only it is an autobot, it is none other than wounded Optimus Prime. Being the genius that he is, Cade repairs Optimus overnight.

But Unfortunately, his assistant calls the government against Cade’s wishes and the human team “Cemetery wind” and Lockdown attacks them, so Optimus has to come out of hiding and take the father daughter duo plus her boyfriend Shane Dyson ( Jack Reynor), who saves the duo while Optimus is fighting, with him to Camp Autobots, where we find the only 4 remaining Autobots.

Our Genius Cade then manages to locate the evil corporation, KSI, which is run by Joshua Joyce (Stanley Tucci–the lovely bones), who is using the Transformium for some nefarious purpose.

From then on starts a long long battle for the survival of the Earth and the Autobots between Autobots, Galvatron(Frank Welker) and his minions, Lockdown and humans all going berserk on each other.

IF you feel I have given a VERY LONG DESCRIPTION, then know this, movie hasn’t even started yet. Yupp, the movie will go on and on and on for 165 minute…

First, let’s take the actors. Having Mark Wahlberg as the lead does the movie a lot of good. I think I am not the only one tired of that Shia B-—— guy crying and moaning all over the movie. He acts well and brings a charm to the movie that was missing previously. He does look like a badass who could take down Transformers all by himself and still look the doting father. His interaction with his daughter’s boyfriend (which was not allowed of course) provides some much needed levity to the movie.

Stanley Tuccias the corporate head of KSI is another plus point to the movie. He also manages to give you some chuckles.

Nicola Peltz, unfortunately, is NOT as hot as Megan Fox, though she looks like Rosie Huntington-Whiteley. Even more unfortunately, she acts WORSE than either or even both of them combined, if u can believe that. But still , she wears shorts and thin, semi-transparent shirts well with high heels, even on a run!

Jack Reynor as the boyfriend is flat. Li Bingbing, another eye candy does get one good action scene and one bike chase, probably to impress the Chinese market. Titus Wellier( teen wolf) as the leader of Cemetery wind is pretty one dimensional. Rest of them don’t deserve a line, really.

Peter Cullen as Optimus is as impressive as ever. But Mark Ryan as Lockdown is the surprise package. He is like a gunslinger meets a black ops operative plus BobaFett. He gives us one of the better villains in the series. He is certainly something to watch for! Reno Wilson as Brains is fun too!

Galavtron without Hugo Weaving is not the same. Bumblebee is really disappointing for me, he was way much more fun in first movie. Rest are mostly whiny little robots.

A special mentions to all the Dinobots, they are not as much their as you would like them to be, so they end up as nothing but a special effect, a brief one at that too. For that, I am really disappointed…

As for the movie as a whole, it is just too long. We could have shaved off 20 mins only by Cade Yeager once definitely stating that his daughter is the best gift he ever had, he loves her too much and would do anything to save her instead of saying it 100 times. Once action starts, movie is reasonably paced, but the thing is, nothing much happens in those combats, until the last battle when Autobots kill every transformer but Galvatron they fight, basically.

Actions is as well done as you would expect in Transformers movie, if anything exists, it can be blown up. As less transformers are seen on screen their previous movies, there space for manoeuvring, and that works out well. There is a pointless Magnetic attack in the middle of final battle which could have been made a lot more interesting. But still, if you are a fan, it works out. If you can get through initial bore fest, you will come out happy. However, it is a bit repetitive and no surprise transformations for us this time. The WAY Decepticons transform now, that is COOL, though!

Acting and characters this time are better than previous ones, but still they could have been fleshed out a lot more. Voice acting is good, even if the dialogues don’t have that punch. There is a story this time, but in the end after plot twists, you realise it is the same thing over and over again. This movie was supposed to be a new start, a new way for the series, while it is a new start, I would not say it is a new way. In the end, it is what some might call destruction porn.

THE VERDICT

This movie is made for those who love metalheads going on metalheads. Michael Bay makes no apology for not delivering a great script or acting performances. There is no more than meets the eye, but that is what this series is.

If you are a fan of comics/ cartoons and wanted this to be good in that way, you will be disappointed.

If u hated first 3 movies, don’t go for this.(Rolling Stones magazine gave this 0/4 stars, Rotten Tomatoes has it at 19% fresh only with 3.8/10 rating, Metacritic has this at 30/100)

If you loved/liked first 3, chances are you may feel this is a better film than at least the sequels. Which, it is, partially. ( It is running a7/10 at IMDB, and IGN has it at 6.3/10)

So if u got nothing to do and a metalhead slug fest is something u r interested in, go for it! I liked this one more than the previous three, though!

However, for the fact this could have been so much more, I will give this 5.5/10.

WHERE IS THIS GOING, IF ANYWHERE?

The movie at present is going for 104 Million week end , 8 million more than Cap 2: winter soldier. We can safely assume, especially with its overseas fame, that it will hit 900-1200 million with ease. So it is safe to say we are looking for another trilogy at the very least. And thankfully , it will be with Mark Wahlberg!

What we have now is a new baddie … (SPOILERS AHEAD)

THE CREATORS, I can only assume they are talking about Qunitessons.The Quintessons are sinister robotic creatures with five sided heads, each side with a different face, including the face of death. These tentacled beings, who travel on beams of energy, are cruel and emotionless, and the creators of all the Transformers on Cybertron millions of years ago.

The Quintessons never intended their intelligent machines to develop emotions. But, to their horror, the Transformers rose up against their masters and drove them away from Cybertron. The Quintessons retreated to a planet they named Quintessa, where they lived a stark and barren existence with their Sharkticon guards. Sinister and vicious, lacking any individualistic intelligence, the Sharkticons usually serve as executioners for their Quintesson masters, who toss condemned victims into the Sharkticon pit. The Quintessons finally decided to blow up their planet, Quintessa, to try to prevent Autobot captives and invaders from escaping. Their plot to destroy the Autobots failed. And now, without a world of their own, they roam the universe with their Sharkticons, making victims of whatever luckless beings crossed their path. Their goal is to regain control of Cybertron and eradicate all Autobots and Decepticons. Yet, so manipulative and cunning are they, that they even tricked the Decepticons into helping them achieve their aim.

With their entry, we can hope that maybe we could have something new in the story , beyond Autobots vs Decepticons, even if the style is not gonna change , it seems.

And if all Michael Bay productions are gonna go this way, this makes me frightened of upcoming Tennage Mutant Ninja Turtles reboot!( It does have Megan Fox, though!)

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Great review bro!, though I think this movie was definitely more watched than the first three, it had something to do with Mark Wahlberg being the leading man I guess, also you left out the part about T.J Miller dying early on in the movie, that was a real disappointment, he was a perfect foil for Mark, it’s a pity he had to endure such an ignominious death.